Banks/Banking in Spain

Banking in Spain is modern and well established. There are several banks and the banking activities are under the control of the Bank of Spain that has branches in provincial capitals and head office in Madrid.

The banks in Spain are segmented into savings banks and clearing banks. There are many foreign banks operating in Spain as well. However, there are few banks that are linked to UK banks.

The industrial progress, the vibrant culture has brought people from far and wide to Spain. There are two forms, a savings and a regular bank. The savings banks offer identical services as regular, but does not entertain facilities for shareholders. These banks in Spain invest their profits in educational, scientific and social projects.

Major Banks

Banque de France, Argentaria, Bancaja group and Banco central Hispano are some of the top banks in Spain. Banque de France assisted in the economic growth, while Argentaria focused on expansion of branches and now has branches in over 40 countries.

Bancaja group is an amalgamation of service companies and financial institutions. It offers quality service and best banking services. Banco Central Hispano is the largest financial groups that aim in efficiency and qualities such as credit risk.

The leading banks earned heavy industrial portfolios in Spain. They had good value holdings and were located in the finance area. They also had retail networks. Moreover, people in Spain lacked the system of pension fund and hence invested their savings for their retirement use. This resulted in having more retail investors in Spain.

Bank Systems

The three main systems of banks in Spain are the savings banks, private banks and official credit institutions. Among them the private banks were considered to be very important. Later, it was divided into industrial and commercial banks. The industrial banks invested high proportions in equity holdings and specialized in investments.

The commercial banks served the common public and focused the short-term credits, besides competing long-term loans. In 1980s, seven big commercial institutions dominated banking in Spain namely, Banco Central, Banco Popular Espanol, Banco de Bilbao, Banco de Vizcaya, Banco de Santander and Banco Hispano Americano. However, in 1980s these banks gained control over 80% of the banking resources of the country.